Man arrested for November 17 shooting death
By LYNETTE SOWELL
Cove Leader-Press
An arrest has been made in connection with the November 17 shooting death of Copperas Cove resident Michael Paradise, who was shot at his home in the 200 block of Julia Drive, just outside the Copperas Cove city limits.
Bobby Wayne Whitehead, 36, was arrested Wednesday morning for Paradise’s murder.
According to a press release by the Coryell County sheriff’s office, on Sunday the office received a tip from an informant who identified Whitehead as the killer and who stated Whitehead had confessed to killing Paradise “because he felt (Paradise) was a child molester and he just didn’t get a good vibe” about him.
According to the informant, Whitehead admitted that he went to Paradise’s house, knocked on the door and shot him in the head. Paradise’s son was home at the time of the murder, but was unharmed.
Whitehead also told the informant he was driving by his ex-wife’s house and saw Paradise by his kids and got a “bad vibe.”
The informant also identified a second “confidential” and stated that the investigators should talk to that person.
At the time of his arrest, Whitehead was apprehended in Travis County, where he was arrested in a joint operation conducted by Coryell County Sheriff’s Office, the Texas Department of Public Safety, the Texas Rangers, the Lampasas County Sheriff’s Office, and the Lampasas County Game Warden. He was located by Travis County sheriff’s deputies and Texas Rangers and arrested without incident at 5:19 a.m. on Wednesday morning.
He is currently being held in the Coryell County jail, with no report of bond being set by press time Thursday.
Paradise, 31, was a military veteran and is survived by his wife and two children.